Twix Mix
by Rosie The Riveter
Summary: Candy Land challenge fic. Reid and Morgan play matchmaker.  Hotch and Prentiss are their marks.


Emily Prentiss knew she was in trouble. She knew there was no hope.

Reid was going to win once again. She folded her cards and threw them on the table in front of her. "Damn it."

Reid smirked. "I won again." He pulled the discarded cards on the table into a pile in order to shuffle them again.

Morgan nodded. "OK Reid – what's she gotta do? Truth or a Dare?"

They were in the bullpen long after they could have left for the day. None of them wanted to admit they had nothing better to do and they were in a rare moment when they had caught up on case-files so they were playing a twisted up version of Poker Truth or Dare. So far, Emily had recounted an embarrassing tale of her first make-out session in High School and Morgan had been forced to reveal that he in fact loved the movie Sleepless in Seattle.

"I think Dare."

"This is _so_ not fair!" Emily protested. "You haven't had to do one dare _or_ truth!"

"Because I won!"

"Next time we're playing a different game so you can't count the cards."

"Sure – but right now you have to pay up."

"Fine. What do I have to do?"

Reid looked at Morgan who nodded.

"You have to ask Hotch out on a date." Reid grinned.

Emily stopped breathing. "What?"

"C'mon Prentiss – we all know how you feel about him." Morgan interjected. "We can see it every time you're in the same room with him."

"You guys are crazy." She scoffed unconvincingly.

Morgan cocked an eyebrow in a way that drove most women wild. "Are we? Really? You are in the same room with the best profilers in the country – you think we can't see when someone is crazy about someone?"

Emily's face burned. "I'm not saying you're right. But there is no way I am going to ask him out. It would be insane. He's my boss."

"Not really. I am, remember? He's just a plain old co-worker."

Emily shook her head. "No way. Pick something else."

"Look, we're not saying ask him to a candlelit dinner at Chez Raul. Just ask him if he wants to grab a sandwich or something."

"C'mon Emily." Reid said softly. "We're trying to do you a favor. Why waste time?" They all knew what he was talking about. They were in a field of work that confronted them with loss everyday. They had all experienced loss

"It's too soon. He's still mourning Haley."

Reid countered. "It's been a year. Look, you don't have to do it – not for the game. It's up to you but we want you to know we think you both would be great together."

"You're like two women – you know that." She shrugged and sighed. "Maybe you're right." She looked up again at Hotch's office and saw him, as usual, sitting at his computer, hard at work.

Could she do it? She knew she could enter a house with an armed suspect laying in wait to kill her and keep her head and wits about her. But could she get up the courage to go up those stairs, knock on the door and ask him out for a simple dinner?

She got up and started up the stairs. She turned back to the two men. "If you two sit there and stare at me while I do it, I'll kill the both of you."

Morgan and Reid smiled. "C'mon Reid - I'll buy you a coffee."

Reid looked perplexed. "But - they're free."

"Yes, I know that – it was a joke."

"Oh. Cool. I've only had three today."

Prentiss approached Hotch's door for the fourth time and retreated. Now that Morgan and Reid had shone a spotlight on her feelings, she was embarrassed, confused and at the same time excited by the prospect that others had seen her feelings and hadn't made fun of them as she had been afraid of.

"Emily!" Hotch's voice made her jump.

Knowing she was cornered, she tentatively pushed open his office door. "Hey."

"What's wrong?"

"Wrong?"

"Yeah – you've been lurking outside my door for the past seven and a half minutes obviously afraid to just knock. So – what am I going to be angry about?"

"Angry about? Oh – no – nothing like that. I just thought maybe you might like to go grab some dinner?" Her face burned because it sounded so completely lame now that she said it aloud. He had removed his suit jacket and loosened his tie. She noticed that he had a very slight five o'clock shadow which strangely made her butterflies flutter a bit.

"You've been afraid to knock on my door to ask me if I want to go get dinner?"

"Well – uh – I know you get absorbed in your work and I didn't want to bug you."

Hotch frowned. "Emily." He said softly. "Why does everyone think I am such a hard-ass?"

Emily's eyebrows flew up. She rarely heard Hotch use profanity just as she rarely had heard him crack a joke. "I – don't think anyone thinks that – just that you are very serious when you have work on your mind."

Hotch set aside his papers and turned off his laptop. "I would love to go to dinner with you."

"Yeah?"

"Unless you have something else in mind, there is this Italian place I've been wanting to try."

"I love Italian."

"I know."

Emily's face burned again – did he know Italian was her favorite? Or was it simply that they had worked together for so long now that they all knew each other too well.

Dinner was surreal. He ordered a bottle of wine declaring that they weren't on a case and it was after hours so they owed it to themselves to enjoy a good meal with a bottle of Chianti.

Emily agreed of course.

When their meal was over, the waiter asked if they would like coffee and dessert. Hotch interjected. "Actually – if it's ok with you Emily – we have other plans for dessert."

"We do?"

Hotch paid the bill over protest from Emily that she had asked him to dinner but he insisted. "Shall we?" He rose and gallantly pulled out her chair.

Emily was at a loss. Was she imagining things or was he making a move on her? Where were they going for dessert? Was dessert innuendo for taking her back to his place? She knew it had been a while for him since he had been with a woman. Men can't wait forever but wasn't this a bit fast? And would she feel comfortable with that? They were co-workers, wouldn't it make things utterly uncomfortable? All these thoughts went through her head in a matter of a second. She also knew that if he did make his move, she wouldn't decline.

They walked companionably along in silence and only stopped when Hotch approached the door to a small coffee shop that also sold tacky gifts and candy.

Emily was perplexed. Why were they here? Hotch went to the counter. "Two coffees. One black, one with cream and sugar and two Twix bars."

"Twix?"

"Yeah. Your favorite, right?" He smiled as he handed one to her.

Emily smiled with wonder. "Yeah." She chuckled. "How did you know?"

"Emily. I make it my business to learn things about a woman I am interested in."

She could have fallen over. Interested in? What did he mean by that?

"Interested in?"

"In dating." Then he frowned briefly, unsure of himself all of a sudden. "I mean – if you're interested in me."

"I – uh." She smiled. "Yes in fact. I am."

"Morgan and Reid told me I should ask you out. But I guess I was too chicken."

She shook her head and laughed. "Those two! They're like a couple of girls with their matchmaking."

"Yeah. I guess I should thank them." He smiled and then with a burst of courage, leaned in and gave her a shy kiss on her lips.

"Yeah. Me too." She looked at the candy bar and then back at Hotch and smiled.


End file.
